Can it be that she is 4 today?

This little princess turned 4 today and I can hardly believe it. I have been there every year to celebrate with this precious angel I am sad to say as she turns 4 I will be in Tulsa and she will be in Houston, but we will reunite again soon. Auntie Jen loves you Hope!!

Happy
Obedient
Playful
Entertaining


Animated
Beautiful
Inspiring
Gift
Adorable
Intelligent
Light of our life

Remarkably sweet
Innocent laughter
Cute
Kind hearted
Eager to learn
Yippy (well maybe that is not a word that describes a person but that is what I say when I get to see her)!!

Love you sweetie!!

Is there a baker in your life?

Because it is the weekend, because there are few things that make me happier than baking and because for some reason people keep asking me for birthday gift ideas for women in their 30’s, I thought I would share a few great gift ideas for the baker in your life.

Oooo laaa laaa, look at this chrome beauty. Can you imagine the number of cupcakes that could be whipped up in this high performance mixer. That happy baker in your life will be starting up their own bakery before you know with this little gadget as their sidekick.


What baker can survive in a kitchen without a flour sifter? The best way to thoroughly combine dry ingredients for baking is via a flour sifter.


Frosting….my one and only love! Just kidding, kind of, the mirror does not like how frosting looks on me, but my hips sure love it. What better way to stay insulated during these cold winter months than with frosting. Every baker needs a frosting decorating kit, whether they are a cake lover or a cupcake lover a good set of decorating tools is a must in any baker’s arsenal.


I found these super cute cupcakes on the Bakerella site and these silicups would be perfect for the job. These nonstick, reusable beauties would be a great addition to any cupcake lovers kitchen.


Oh boy, check this powerful tool out!! I think this sweet machine may end up on my want list. This cake decorating machine makes ever creation a masterpiece with the simple push of a button. It is an electric cutter that quickly trims sheets of gum paste, fondant or frosting into the perfect shape you choose.


I better stop there, I might just get carried away.

Dress for the ages

I am trying to dig out from under more snow than I would ever like to see again in Tulsa and looking for a cocktail dress to wear to a wedding coming up next month. Why do you look at me with that strange smirk on your face, you don’t think snow and cocktails mix well? You may be right, but as I am stranded by massive snow drifts I figure I might as well make myself useful and find a dress. Yes, I could be working on a ginormaous report I have due next month for work, or I could be working on an inventory project for my second job, but instead I chose to fire up my computer and do a little shopping.

This month of love could not slip by without talking about shopping, more specifically fashion and clothes. However, I am not a typical girl in that I don’t like to shop unless I am on a mission for something specific, then I love it. This month I am in fact on a mission for something specific, a cocktail dress for an upcoming wedding. Hold onto your hats, it is not my wedding; we are attending the wedding of our friends Carolyn and Jack, remember I talked about them last month. Anywho, I have been searching high and low for the perfect dress, I have it narrowed down to a few choices, feel free to weigh in. Remember it is for a wedding, in the evening, at the end of March, and I will have a man straight off the cover of GQ as my date.

I fell in love with this dress the first time I saw it, I love the asymmetrical ruched overlay strap on the one shoulder. Black is a huge seller for me as well, it hides....well the fact I eat too many cupcakes.


This dress whispered simple elegance to me. The ivory satin would not be as forgiving as the black dress above, but I would be willing to workout a little bit harder to make sure all my cupcakes were no longer sitting on my hips.


The color of this dress......dynasty, is what caused me to fall in love with it. I love it's elegant design with the crisscross bodice and bow on the side.

The herb I love

I have been snowed in for more or less 4 days so what better time to talk about gardening than in the dead of winter right? Well let me explain more clearly, because I do not love gardening, but I do love home grown basil. Actually at this point, being buried alive under way too much snow for the town of Tulsa, I think I could find a love for gardening, I could fall in love with anything that required warmer temperatures, sunshine and NO snow! But during this month of love I will stick to the herb I love the most, basil.
I stick basil in just about anything I can……………

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup


Basil Mint Grapefruit Sorbet


Tomato Basil Bruschetta


Tomato, Mozzarella and Basil Salad


Tomato, Mozzarella and Basil Pizza



The next basil inspired yummyiness my kitchen plans to prepare is Blackberry, Lemon and Basil Gelato. Gelato makes my heart skip a beat, to add basil may just kill me. But I will die a happy woman. If I make it through my first taste of my upcoming Gelato venture I will share all the details with you.

Love ya,
Jen

Ernie

Ernest, Ernie, Pops……………all the names my grandfather answered to. Many words come to mind when I remember this extraordinary man who was born this day 1914 in Montrose Scotland.

Integrity

Valor

Service (505th Unit during World War II)

A family man


Love

Quiet

Avid gardener

Son

Brother

Husband

Dad


Grandfather

Friend

Man of few words

Patient

Hero

A man that will forever be in heart


Love you and miss you Pops!!

Running

What better way to spend an hour after a long day at the office then to go on a run? What you don’t agree? Well I promise you if you try it out you will be hooked. I love to run outside on sunny days along the river trails, I love to run on cool crisp fall mornings, I love to run on treadmill when it is negative 7 degrees outside and look at the beautiful snow through the gym windows. I love to run and my body loves it as well.

The hours I have been required to dedicate to work the past month has brought my evening running to a screeching halt and I am here to tell you I can’t be happier that my schedule is calming down and allowing me to hop onto the treadmill. My muffin tops that have somehow appeared over the past month may not be as excited as I am but life is simply not fair is it? The treadmill and I have become pretty close friends this past week, because Lord knows I am not about to go running in 4 foot snow drifts with negative wind chills, I am not that diehard.

I say I not about to go running in 4 foot snow drifts, but I did go walking last week. You see I think I may have a touch of A.D.D, some like to refer to it as Cabin Fever. My case of this ‘Cabin Fever’ about put me in straight jacket so I think I either had a really bad case or I was suffering from something else. That said I took a journey, my destination was anywhere but my apartment. As I walked to this undisclosed location I helped to push three cars out of being stuck, I contemplated lending my super hero hands to a stuck semi-truck but thought again and kept walking and I got a lot of stunning snow cover Tulsa pictures. Once I reached my destination I checked to see how many miles I clocked and it was 2.85 and because of my luck I got to walk those 2.85 miles back to my place. What is that you say….that is not luck that is common sense….well common sense is not something I claim to have a lot of. However, that walk back was after a sleepover at this undisclosed location and a trip to the grocery store. Yes, my walk over simply seemed too easy so I figured what better way to make it more challenging than to fill a backpack full of 22 lbs of groceries and walk back home in pour down snow. Not one of the smartest moves I have ever made. When I got home I did not go visit my best friend the treadmill instead I curled up in bed and went to sleep.

So I digress…..what was I telling you about? Oh yeah, I love to run!!

Friends

I once saw a quote that went something along these lines………..truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave and impossible to forget. My life has been packed full of some extraordinary friends….
Friends that have traveled the globe with me

Friends that encourage me to be the best I can be




Friends that challenge my mind



Friends that always make me laugh


Friends that have made periods in my life better by just being part of it




“I'd like to be the sort of friend that you have been to me, I'd like to be the help that you've been always glad to be; I'd like to mean as much to you each minute of the day, as you have meant old friend of mine, to me along the way.”

Love you all!!

Family

What do you think of when you think of family.........

The words that come to my mind are:
-Strength
-Encouragement
-Laughter
-Wisdom
-My heart
-LOVE

Here is to a mother who always makes us laugh,


a father who provides support


and a brother who has made every uphill journey bearable and every downhill journey a blast!



Love you all!!

February

February is the month of love and there is so much love in my life. Each day during the month I am going to share the people, places and things that make my heart grow larger by the day.

I had in mind the perfect post for today when all of a sudden the Oklahoma sky opened up and dumped 14” of snow on Tulsa. February 1, 2011 will go down in the history books for the most snow in 24-hours, the most snow for the month of February and the most snow for a single winter in Tulsa.

Being we had a little bit of snow today and snow happens to be one thing I love I chose to share some pictures from the Blizzard of 2011.











Love,
Jennifer